Vanity Remake, faux chalk paint and finishing wax for $10 total

I wish I could show you the end result!

With the sink and faucet!

I started to work on this to use as a vanity in the bunkhouse (cabin) we are building in Wyoming.

Unfortunately things did not go as planned with the carpenter and we are way behind.

Next year my husband will install it in the bathroom.

I found this buffet at a flea market a year ago for $10

I knew right away what I wanted to do with it.

It was a pretty piece in it's day but it has had a hard life and was beyond repair, just what I felt comfortable about painting.

I can't take a good piece and paint it...just goes against my grain.

My grandfather was a carpenter and craftsman, he made a few beautiful pieces and I own and cherish one of them...but that's another story.

So I made my own chalk paint by adding plaster of paris to the white paint.

About 3 parts paint and 1 part plaster of paris.

Add water as needed because the faux chalk paint thickens quickly.

It took about 3 coats to cover.

I then sanded to distress it.

I used Minwax finishing wax, applying it liberally and then hand buffing it using cheesecloth. I set the can in the hot sun to soften it. It makes it so much easier to apply.

Seeing as my husband had not cut the hole out on top for the sink I painted everything but the top figuring he would scratch it anyway while cutting.

That became an accidental surprise.

The whole thing was white except for the top, he cut the hole out and we both thought it might be nice to leave the natural wood top.

So he sanded it down past the finish and turns out that it had a beautiful dark wood grain.

I applied a clear stain and it was just gorgeous.

I then applied 3 coats (while sanding in between each coat) Minwax fast drying polyurethane.

Here is the 'almost' end result.

I couldn't set the sink in for the picture because he has not cut out part of the drawer to fit it yet.

But the white sink against that dark top is just beautiful!

It was missing one drawer pull so I filled in the holes in the top drawer and only used 4 drawer pulls.

Total cost of project $10.

I get all of my paint and finishing supplies at the recycling center near our home.

Gotta love that deal!

I can't wait to get this where it belongs, I have the entire bathroom pictured in my head, exactly what it will look like. I even have a white crystal chandelier!

It's mighty hard to wait until next summer to finish!

(if you click on the picture it really shows up!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Linking to;

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thursday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

Common Ground for Be Inspired

Things are happening!

Pretty puffy clouds over the Big Horn Mountains.

Things are rockin' at the bunkhouse!

That is...the sheet rock is going up, braces are up 

link is HERE

I found a few treasures the other day at the antique shop, I'll try to post them in a day or so.

So much happening here! So little time!

Out in Wyoming

It's been a month since my last post. I had planned to write about our continued building adventures but things are not going well...not well at all.

This is us when we left Minnesota.

For those of you who have been following the building of the bunkhouse here is a link to my latest post on everything that's not happened but was supposed to be finished by now.

The Bunkhouse

I should be priming and painting the walls but we still have no walls.

The bathroom should be finished but we have no bathroom!

I did find some real treasures at the local antique shop that I would love to post but I haven't been much in the mood to post.

Maybe if things get rolling like they were supposed to today...10 am and 1 out of 5 guys have showed up but thank goodness it was the plumber who had vanished for 4 days.

I'll be back later....

That old chest of drawers painted Hawaiian Sky and what I did with it....

Remember the old chest I found at a garage sale for $10? 

I repainted it and stenciled it for $0 using paint from our local recycling center.

It's in my bedroom closet piled full of vintage treasures.

It makes me smile every time I walk inside, I should have taken a before picture...it was an embarrassing mess.

I hung an old chippy white shelf above the chest.

The Bakelite rhinestone bracelet was mine when I was little and this is one of my favorite shelves.

A vintage chocolate box, I love this box!

(sorry about the glare but being inside a closet I had to use clamp lights with daylight bulbs.)

The old bowl was found at a flea market for $3

The mother of pearl opera glasses were my moms,

the black perfume bottle was found at a yard sale in Wyoming last summer

The pretty vintage Tiffany box was purchased empty! That is the only Tiffany thing I own!!!

the back box holds a rhinestone heart that was also mine when I was little.

The vintage blue glass hatpin holder I love, I have no idea how it originally was intended to be displayed but I temporarily attached it to a glass coaster to prevent it from tipping over.

My favorite Seneca rhinestone clock (I only have 2!)

and the rhinestone hair comb was my mothers.

Another favorite shelf, I love the crazing of this old bluebird bowl filled with lavender buds.

This blue box was put together using vintage pieces, it was a horrible shade of yellow so I painted it with the same blue as the chest of drawers. The vintage glass knob came with it and now it looks so much better against the light aqua.

I leave one drawer open so I can see all the pretties inside. 

Sometimes it's this one with my favorite vintage embroideries and a bit of crochet inside...

(that monster rhinestone brooch was my Grandmothers, down on the lower right, hard to see here)

Sometimes it's the second drawer filled with vintage lace and crochet...

Sometimes is the third drawer filled with vintage crochet tablecloths and a few other treasures including hand knit wool baby socks and booties...

Or the fourth drawer filled with vintage embroidery to stitch, 

I haven't a place for this vintage satin yo yo pillow and this little hankie holder yet...

beneath them are the ready to stitch embroidery pieces.

The dancing girl is a pair of pillowcases waiting for the crochet edge.

A peek at a shelf to the right full of 1920's beauties that I will post in the future.

A pretty never used apron I found for a steal at a garage sale nearby.

It is draped over a quilt I made several years ago using Aunt Gracies reproduction 1930's fabrics.

Under that are my clothes!

And here is the entire shelf along with my 1920's bedlight.

It's too delicate to hang over my bed and I want to protect it from the sun so we made a wooden holder for it, I covered it with muslin and hung it over the shelf. It does work but I tucked the cord behind the box.

The entire thing, it sure looks cluttered here but I guess that is my personality coming out!

Maybe I'll remove the crochet bags someday but I kind of like seeing them too.

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. If you click on the pictures you can really see what's inside those drawers!!!

Linking to;

Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Green Willow Pond for What We Accomplished Wednesday

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

Common Ground for Be Inspired

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

So much stuff happening lately, I might be absent from blogging for a while and I'm missing your posts but when I post again it should be from the bunkhouse in Wyoming...I can't wait! 

See you all later...

Little Log House Pioneer Show

I can't believe how fast the summer is slipping away. So much to do and not enough time.

I've been neglecting my blogging too much lately!

We always go to The Little Log House Pioneer/Farm Show in Hastings Minnesota. It's usually hot and humid but we lucked out this year, breezy, partly cloudy and cool.

I love their farm-y flea market but it seemed a bit sparse this year.

But I did find 2 things that I was looking for!

I have been keeping an eye open for this drying rack for years.

They are always either too expensive or have broken, warped or replaced dowels.

After inspecting this one it appeared that it had hardly been used.

$20! 

I just love the look of it.

A pretty piece of embroidery for $2

How it looks collapsed, it has a tripod base and that folds too, 

pretty compact!

A man had this old Big Ben alarm clock with no price, when I inquired he said it doesn't work (like I care!!!) $2!!! I reached for my $2 mighty fast!

Then the other thing I was looking for an old wood wringer to hang in my laundry room. 

I have always been drawn to anything laundry room related, old wringer washers, wash boards, clothes pins, anything that reminds me of the 'good old days'.

If you have been following my blog from the beginning you know I have several old wringer washers...including my grandma's and my moms Maytag's which is what I used when I was a youngster and still do use in Wyoming!

You can see my little collection of wringer washers HERE.

For those of you unfamiliar with them, the laundry comes out so clean. I can do 6 loads in a quarter of the time it takes an automatic. Yup! You throw in a load and when it's ready to run through the wringers I put it through 2 rinses and then into the laundry basket. When I was a kid we used the old metal kind on rollers with the cloth basket that everyone wants so badly now.

We always washed the towels and then sheets first and then moved onto darker items.

We threw in another load and then went outside to hang the laundry on the clothes lines.

By the time we finished hanging them, the 2nd load was ready to hang out so we repeated until we were finished.

We could get it all done in the morning and then in the afternoon we would breath the fresh smell as we took down the dried laundry.

Nothing better than fresh sheets on the bed!

I found several old wringers that day but I liked this one the best and the price was the best at $20.

When we build the new house, I will have a pretty laundry room off the kitchen and this will hang on the wall so I can see it when I walk in the door.

Yes, I can see it all in my head...hope it really happens!

The last thing I picked up was this big old tin or zinc box, no clue what I'll do with it but I thought it looked kind of cool.

We are busy as bees packing and planning. It's time to load up 2 trailers full of stuff to haul out to Wyoming.

We'll be working on the inside of the bunkhouse and also bringing fill dirt into the pole barn to level out the floor.

I have lots and lots of staining and painting to do, hopefully that'll get me back in shape and lose a few pounds!

Thanks for stopping!

Linking to;

Green Willow Pond for What We Accomplished Wednesday

Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday

The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

Common Ground for Be Inspired